First saw Kicking The Dog about 3 years ago and watched it a bunch with friends. Just watched it again for the first time in about 2 years and was compelled to write a review because, well, people need to see this movie.
It opens with nearly every character being introduced within 30 seconds - while they're having some beers and telling stories on a break from college. You have Satchem, who seems to have a story for every occasion and the love of his life, Julie, who somehow tolerates this behavior. The womanizing Matt, played with laid-back gusto by Carl Evans. Josh and his almost-girlfriend Jen who are both confronting peculiar issues with sex and relationships and three high school kids who just seem to be amazed by it all, including Joe Spellman who turns in an inspiring performance as a kid who may not quite take himself seriously. And throw in Vedette Lim, who fans of True Blood will recognize, plays a sexy but too-mature-for-this-crowd friend.
Satchem and Julie appear to be headed in different directions - Satchem to a job across country and Julie to graduate school, although Julie has no idea about his offer. Matt, more than a few years older than everyone else, is a cross between Wooderson in Dazed and Confused and Stifler from American Pie - think if Stifler was as laid back as Wooderson. All he cares about is girls, and has no conscience, and some of the best one-liners ever in a sex comedy. (telling a girl that a certain favor she did was "right on" while tapping her on the shoulders)
Josh decides to take a job at a porn shop where he develops a fetish that his new girlfriends indulges in since she refuses to have sex with him. She was a slut, but is now a nice girl, or at least she wants to be a nice girl. He also has one of the best dream sequences I've ever seen in a movie. I don't want to give it away, but it's freaky and hilarious.
The young guys try to meet new girls and are responsible for much of the sexually-innocent humor.
This movie reminds me of college and post-college parties - telling stories about the good times, which were generally times when we were drunk, stoned and having sex or trying to have sex. Sachem tells stories about these times to large groups and his girlfriend gets mad, which actually leads to some well acted and written arguments - on par with the comedy. The writer has a keen ear not only for comedy but also conversations and arguments, and Beth Schmidt delivers her lines with frustrated love in a manner that makes you realize how much she truly cares for Sachem, and is willing to give him too many chances to change.
Kicking The Dog can be considered an immature sex comedy, possibly because they say weiner and discuss sex like they're bragging, but there isn't a lot of sex. In fact two of the most experienced characters practically avoid it. And I wonder does this make the movie more mature - in that they're waiting for the right moment to have sex - or does it make it more immature, in that the characters had a lot of casual sex when they were younger and now regret what they did and can't associate sex with someone they love. It's a deep issue for a movie like this, where you can get caught up laughing for what seems like minutes at a time, but it's definitely an underlying theme. And the younger characters are headed down the same road as the older ones - searching for casual sex. And the young characters who are in love will only have their hopes crushed.
There are a few almost great performances. The comedy is dead-on and the writing of the conversations is perfect. Plot? Not so much a plot as a "theme" throughout, as I just discussed. The theme is basically, "when will you be mature enough to make love rather than have sex".
To me this movie is like punk music - it's raw, bare bones and in-your- face. If it tried to be more than that it would fail, like if the Ramones tried to be more like Led Zeppelin. And that's probably what makes this film so good - the filmmakers, producers, actors, etc knew to keep it simple and just give us what we want - laughs with some touching moments.
It opens with nearly every character being introduced within 30 seconds - while they're having some beers and telling stories on a break from college. You have Satchem, who seems to have a story for every occasion and the love of his life, Julie, who somehow tolerates this behavior. The womanizing Matt, played with laid-back gusto by Carl Evans. Josh and his almost-girlfriend Jen who are both confronting peculiar issues with sex and relationships and three high school kids who just seem to be amazed by it all, including Joe Spellman who turns in an inspiring performance as a kid who may not quite take himself seriously. And throw in Vedette Lim, who fans of True Blood will recognize, plays a sexy but too-mature-for-this-crowd friend.
Satchem and Julie appear to be headed in different directions - Satchem to a job across country and Julie to graduate school, although Julie has no idea about his offer. Matt, more than a few years older than everyone else, is a cross between Wooderson in Dazed and Confused and Stifler from American Pie - think if Stifler was as laid back as Wooderson. All he cares about is girls, and has no conscience, and some of the best one-liners ever in a sex comedy. (telling a girl that a certain favor she did was "right on" while tapping her on the shoulders)
Josh decides to take a job at a porn shop where he develops a fetish that his new girlfriends indulges in since she refuses to have sex with him. She was a slut, but is now a nice girl, or at least she wants to be a nice girl. He also has one of the best dream sequences I've ever seen in a movie. I don't want to give it away, but it's freaky and hilarious.
The young guys try to meet new girls and are responsible for much of the sexually-innocent humor.
This movie reminds me of college and post-college parties - telling stories about the good times, which were generally times when we were drunk, stoned and having sex or trying to have sex. Sachem tells stories about these times to large groups and his girlfriend gets mad, which actually leads to some well acted and written arguments - on par with the comedy. The writer has a keen ear not only for comedy but also conversations and arguments, and Beth Schmidt delivers her lines with frustrated love in a manner that makes you realize how much she truly cares for Sachem, and is willing to give him too many chances to change.
Kicking The Dog can be considered an immature sex comedy, possibly because they say weiner and discuss sex like they're bragging, but there isn't a lot of sex. In fact two of the most experienced characters practically avoid it. And I wonder does this make the movie more mature - in that they're waiting for the right moment to have sex - or does it make it more immature, in that the characters had a lot of casual sex when they were younger and now regret what they did and can't associate sex with someone they love. It's a deep issue for a movie like this, where you can get caught up laughing for what seems like minutes at a time, but it's definitely an underlying theme. And the younger characters are headed down the same road as the older ones - searching for casual sex. And the young characters who are in love will only have their hopes crushed.
There are a few almost great performances. The comedy is dead-on and the writing of the conversations is perfect. Plot? Not so much a plot as a "theme" throughout, as I just discussed. The theme is basically, "when will you be mature enough to make love rather than have sex".
To me this movie is like punk music - it's raw, bare bones and in-your- face. If it tried to be more than that it would fail, like if the Ramones tried to be more like Led Zeppelin. And that's probably what makes this film so good - the filmmakers, producers, actors, etc knew to keep it simple and just give us what we want - laughs with some touching moments.